


Last Copy

by Ruyi



Series: touken ranbu prompts [12]
Category: Final Fantasy VII, 刀剣乱舞 | Touken Ranbu
Genre: Canon deaths, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 13:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16041182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruyi/pseuds/Ruyi
Summary: Tumblr prompt: Yamanbagiri Kunihiro is Sephiroth's hired bodyguard.





	Last Copy

**Author's Note:**

> (tfw when your character’s a clone of an original and meets an original with clones in another series–this drabble started out normal…and then it got out of hand.)

“General, we’ve just got the latest reports. Sources say there was an attack…” the messenger trailed off as Sephiroth raised a hand for silence.

From his position in the corner, Yamanbagiri Kunihiro unconsciously straightened, before relaxing. He observed as the commander expertly grilled the recruit, efficiently picking out cold, hard,  _data_ between all the stammers and stutters. Well, who could blame the man for being nervous?

The war hero had graced the front of every media outlet for the past few weeks, and morale among the troops was high despite recent…events. He watched as the recruit finished speaking– _yes, sir,_   _no, sir,_ and  _good day, sir!_ before backing out the door, bowing all the time. Naturally, he didn’t spare a glance for Yamanbagiri. No one ever did.

 _So this is what it’s like,_ Yamanbagiri mused,  _To stand in the shadow of perfection._

The door shut behind their guest, and for a while there was nothing but the soft  _scritch scritch_ of the General’s pen on paperwork. Most of their afternoons were filled with such silences. Sephiroth was not sociable, while Yamanbagiri preferred solitude–and thus, they got along just fine.

_(Though the sword wondered why his commander needed a bodyguard in the first place.)_

Time passed. Sephiroth moved from writing missives to reading reports, the occasional turn of a page measuring his progress. Yamanbagiri felt himself began to drift off, and started listing off the names of famous swords to pass the time. He got as far as Otegine before  _something_ prickled at his neck and a  _crash_ shattered the glass beside him as someone  _burst_ through the windows.

In an instant, both swordsmen were on him, blades at his throat. Yamanbagiri was closer but Sephiroth was  _faster_ despite sitting down and facing the opposite direction).Again, the _uchigatana_ wondered why the General needed a bodyguard at all when he was more than capable of defending himself. Between the wail of alarm sirens, sword spirit and SOLDIER exchanged a glance before glancing at the intruder. Yamanbagiri couldn’t hide his surprise. “This is–-?”

Without a word, Sephiroth slit its throat, and the corrupted copy fell to the ground like a stringless puppet.

“…I thought we killed them all.” Yamanbagiri muttered, staring at the body. The face was a perfect copy of a certain ex-General, and it…unnerved him. He thought he heard Sephiroth mutter,  _apparently not,_ but the words buried themselves beneath a ringing phone. As elegantly as ever, the SOLDIER 1st Class stepped over the corpse to answer the call. And in the meantime–

–Yamanbagiri leaned back as  _another_ clone appeared to swipe at his head, before stabbing with his own sword. He was no SOLDIER–far from it, with his…specialized  _existence_ –-but Shinra had done their share of experiments too, enough to make him rise above the ranks of  _dead weight_ and  _cannon fodder_ to  _good enough,_ by SOLDIER standards.

And  _good enough_ was more than enough to kill these stubborn clones. The sword finished off two more, for a total of three, before Sephiroth hung up and announced that Midgar was under attack–just as Yamanbagiri wrapped one clone in his cloak and tossed him aside like a sandwich. For a second,  _something_ flickered in the General’s eyes, and Yamanbagiri thought it might’ve been amusement.

…nah, he was probably seeing things.

“What are your orders, Commander?” he asked, and blinked when he caught Sephiroth  _smirking._ And then the SOLDIER issued an directive before leaving through the window to chase more errant clones.

"Guard my office…” Yamanbagiri muttered. _Is he serious?_

**_BANG!_ **

A foot kicked down the door, and five figures made their way inside.

_Tch._

“I shouldn’t have asked.”he sighed, drawing his sword as he charged towards the group.  _I might be a copy, but–_ “–that doesn’t make me a  _clone_.”

_“KILL!”_

* * *

 

When he opens his eyes again, he’s in a hospital. Sephiroth’s left on a trip and replaced him with a simple  _foot soldier_  so he can recover in the interim.Of course Yamanbagiri  _balks–_ it’s  _his_ job to guard the General–but the doctors insist that he stay.

 _"You’re not SOLDIER,"_ they say. _"If you don’t heal your injuries, you’ll_ break."

Yamanbagiri’sfar from satisfied, so they try their best to placate him.

 _"It’s a routine inspection,"_ one explains. " _The General wanted to see one of the Mako reactors. He’ll be back by the end of the week."_

If it was _that_ ordinary, couldn’t it have waited until after Yamanbagiri woke up?  ~~ _Unless Sephiroth realized that he wasn’t needed, wasn’t_ **useful** _–_~~

 _"He’s not alone,"_ the doctors continue. _"He has backup."_

Right. The recently promoted protegé of  ~~yet _another_~~ ex-General. A spiky-haired SOLDIER who kept trying to steal his cloak every time they met.

Eventually, he lets them off the hook, but not before asking someone to bring him files detailing the region.

_Nibelheim._

It really  _was_  a tiny backwater town, located in the mountains. Too far to reach on foot. Beyond the wolves and dragons, most of the monsters seemed pretty tame, and Yamanbagiri allowed himself a long sigh. Despite the uneasiness in his stomach,  _maybe_ …everything would be fine, even without him by Sephiroth’s side.

One day later, Nibelheim burns to the ground.

\--

Two months later, Yamanbagiri finally gets clearance to visit the place himself, long after Shinra and the Turks have sanitized the rubble. There is nothing to see as he picks his way through shattered streets and burnt-out houses, searching for remnants of a man he never finds. Sephiroth is gone. Zack is gone. All the SOLDIERs he’s ever known, vanished off the face of the Planet like smoke. It’s not long before Yamanbagiri disappears as well, slipping beneath the Plate to sink into the slums. He has always been a shadow– _Sephiroth’s_ shadow, and without the General, everything is suddenly all too  _bright_ and  _clear._

* * *

 

Five years later, when a mysterious blond man enters Midgar with a giant blade strapped to his back, he finds his way blocked by a figure in a tattered cloak. Mako-bright eyes meet quiet green ones before the latter speaks.

“That’s not your sword."

"And _you,_ ” Yamanbagiri Kunihiro continues, “Are  _not_ a SOLDIER.”

**Author's Note:**

> and thus yamanbagiri and cloud joined avanlanche and became sword buddies that saved the world and defeated sephy etc etc yeah i don’t know this was getting too long so i stopped it here.


End file.
